AU ficlet for the end of The Truth because William should have been there with them.
This was meant to be written for the X-Files Bingo. Then everything went to hell, and I didn't finish it in time. I've decided to finish it and put it out in the world as it is.
Tagging @today-in-fic
~
The rain patters against the roof outside, but inside, it’s quiet. Mulder barely dares to breathe too loudly, to move too quickly, to make a single mistake. He’s made too many of those already. His hand is on his son’s stomach, rising and falling with the boy’s even breathing. It’s everything he’s dreamed about these last couple of months. What kept him going.
When he closed his eyes at night, he pictured Scully and their son, just doing everyday life things. All the things he was missing. He pictured them smiling, just living. And that’s what kept him alive, too. Hoping that one day he could return, be with them again.
His son has grown into a solid form, bigger than Mulder expected. When he left, when William was only a few days old, he felt light in his hands, but took up all the room in his heart. His reddish tuft has turned a darker shade, as have his eyes. The ghost of Scully’s features is there on the boy’s face. As well as his own. They’ve always been a perfect team, working well together. Their son, however, is their masterpiece.
The bed dips and Mulder lifts his eyes from his son. Scully is smiling at him. Soft and gentle, tired but happy. Her hair is still wet, her complexion rosy from the hot water. The white fluffy robe almost swallows her. She doesn’t seem to mind. She scoots closer, on the other side of William, who sleeps through it all. Mulder watches him, curious to see if the boy wakes.
“He’s a deep sleeper,” Scully says, reading his thoughts.
“Wonder who he gets that from.” He smiles at her, and her answering smile is a balm on his beaten soul.
“He gets his appetite from you,” she says, her fingers tracing his, careful not to disturb their son. “He’ll be awake before you know it.”
“I can’t wait to get to know him,” he whispers, the words feeling heavy on his tongue. His son doesn’t remember him. When he opens his eyes to look at him, he’ll see nothing but a stranger. For Mulder, holding him when he was a few days old, it meant the world. He missed everything in between then and now. How can he ever make up for it?
“You will,” Scully says. The voice of reason, the sound of hope.
But is there hope for them? For any of them? With what he found out, the future has an expiration date. The date’s set and he can’t do anything about it. Neither of them can. He looks at his son, sleeping peacefully. Unaware of what’s happening around him. He lives in certainty that his parents will keep him safe. Mulder promises it, manifests it. They will keep William safe. His eyes find Scully’s. There’s no resentment; she did all of this on her own. She kept going. Maybe, he thinks. Maybe there is a sliver of hope when she’s by his side.
“What are you thinking?” she asks him in a soft voice. He’s not ready to voice it yet. His fears, his hopes. No matter how much she deserves to hear both.
“I’m thinking… I’m thinking about the last time we sat like this. When our journey started.”
“You told me about Samantha.” Scully puts a hand over his and he’s back there in that hotel room, nine years ago.
“You thought I was crazy.”
“I still think you’re crazy.” She smiles at him, and he laughs.
“Did you think we’d…,” he trails off. Of course she didn’t think this is where they’d end up. Him on the run from the government. Her by his side. Their son, too. Mulder touches the boy’s hand, needing to assure himself that he’s real.
“Did I think we’d be here?” Scully asks softly. “I couldn’t have imagined any of it, Mulder.” He nods at her. “But I’ve told you before,” she says, touching his cheek. “I wouldn’t change a single day. And I’m not giving up. We’re not giving up.” She emphasizes the we.
“You and me, huh?” He grins. “And William. This is all I want, Scully. All we have is each other. I don’t care if we… I won’t give up. I can promise you that. You and Will. But all I want is for us to have a life. Together.”
“Then we want the same thing.” He reaches over, touches her lip. She kisses his thumb without taking her eyes off of his. The determination in her expression fuels him. His spirit. She’s the love of his life, the reason he keeps going. A smile cracks over her face, like the sun breaking through clouds.
“I love you,” he whispers.
“Good,” she replies. “Because I love you too. But we need to sleep if we want to save the world.”
He won’t remind her that she’s already saved the world. His, anyway. Instead, he just nods. Careful not to wake William, he scoots closer, wrapping his arm around the two people who make up his whole cosmos. He hears her sigh and tightens his hold on her. Tomorrow they will have to make a plan. They don’t know where they’re going yet. They don’t know how it will work. If it will. But there will be a tomorrow.
“Maybe there’s hope,” he says, looking at her. The words finally slipping from his lips.
“I know there is,” she replies after a beat. He watches her, soaks up as much of this moment as he can. Exhaustion tugs at him, and before he knows it, his eyes drift closed. He falls asleep with a newfound confidence that they can save the world after all.
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In the spirit of the anons of old, have a little bit of Contact High:
She'd been trying to figure out his couch habit for years. Perhaps he found a bed too lonely, or too reminiscent of something he'd had and lost. Maybe, like a monk, he relinquished physical comforts in favor of the metaphysical. Maybe having a bedroom made him feel like he should be having sex, or remind him that he wasn't. Maybe he just didn't want to pay the storage fee on all those boxes.
Oh, I love this so, so much. I'd forgotten all about this fic. I need to go back and reread it. Thanks for sharing, anon 💚
Who else feels like sharing a favorite quote/passage from a favorite fic?
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Scully comes off as the more "normal" of the two, but we see so many times throughout the show that her social skills are just as limited as Mulder's (if not more), she just doesn't have as many outrageous theories (and if she does, she's not as loud about them). And to me that's so important because it adds this sense of relief she feels in getting to know Mulder. Someone who is just as smart and just as strange, just in different ways.
Scully always knew she was loved, but I think Mulder was the first person to make her feel not just loved, but seen and understood.
A small detail from a scene of “Dreamland II” I find intriguing is when Scully exposes Morris Fletcher as fake Mulder. Fletcher has just more or less dragged her onto the waterbed, and they are both lying next to each other looking at themselves in the mirror above.
“You hate it”, Fletcher/Mulder tells her, half question, half statement. There’s a significant little pause before she answers, in a pensive, (I find) somewhat sad tone: “No, I don’t hate it”. And this is revelatory, and I love it to bits, because it so cleverly done, both visually and how GA interprets it. What she sees in the reflection is something unreal (and that’s what we see in mirrors, an inverted, alternative world, a possible threshold, think of Alice’s Looking glass), a wish: Mulder and herself together, in a bed = as lovers. But what’s meaningful, it’s what we see and hear there as well: not Fletcher, as in all the other body-switch scenes, but Mulder, speaking with his own voice. We get to see her dream-wish too.
Then Fletcher turns around, rests his hand on his face and says, “You hate it”. Scully pauses, knowing it is Fletcher but choosing to look at the “Dreamland” up there for two more heartbeats. “No, I don’t hate it”, she says in that melancholy voice and means, I wish this were real, I wish it were you. Then sits up, slips back into reality (steels herself, I guess) and proceeds to unmask Fletcher.
There is so much in this single sentence for me, it’s so subtly done and so precious to me that she reveals what she is longing for by saying it the way she does.
It's late on Sunday night and I just finished recording a long-ass (but oh so very, very good) fic for @audiofanficpod and I just wanted to share because I told my dog and he wasn't impressed.
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The 2026 MSR Bingo Challenge is officially complete!
A big thank you to all of the wonderful, talented writers who participated as well as to everyone who’s read, commented, and left kudos. The collection is still open for those who want to contribute.
Without further ado, here’s what y’all created:
The entire Bingo Challenge Collection on AO3
Stats:
Total Fics: 22
Most popular square: “Is that what I think it is?”
Total Words: 74,901
The Fics:
I love you, Doctor Scully by abubblewithdinos
prelude to the petries by catharsisxf
the way to a man’s heart by catharsisxf
being alone is better with you by catharsisxf
destiny, fate, (how to throw a curveball) by catharsisxf
Dead Man's Hand by DanaScullyMD1013
Ready to Drink by dancinqueen
The Aftermath of a Dream by Defnotmeyo
An Interrupted Moment by future_fangirl
Nine Missing Minutes by future_fangirl
Is the Monster in the Room? by future_fangirl
Smoke and mirrors by Jaquescully
Indiscretos by Jaquescully (in Portuguese)
The Ship Masters by Jaquescully
Lights, Camera, Orgasm by k (observeroftheuniverse) & peacenikO
Clearing the air by Little_Grey_Girl
when it all comes down to dust by plausiblestateoforegon (shuuuliet)
In the great tradition of @gaycrouton (my favorite exchange organizer), I'm putting together a X Files Summer Exchange.
Details: Sign Up is between now and July 10th if you want to receive a fic gift. Add your details to the sign up sheet pick your summer themed prompt (there is a tab with some prompt suggestions, but feel free to write your own) and add any important notes to help your author (e.g 'no major character deaths', 'I like to see Mulder cry'... normal stuff). It works like Secret Santa, where once the sign up is closed you will receive a private message with your recipient and fic prompt.
July 11th I will individually send out the details for the exchange recipient and more detailed instructions.
Publish Date: August 9th
Length: No restrictions, but try to get to at least 600 words if it's a gift for someone.
Do you want to participate but don't want the pressure of a due date or writing a fic for someone else? No worries!
All summer themed x files stories are welcomed (and feel free to browse our prompts), just tag #TXFSummerExchange26 in Tumblr and link your story to our AO3 Collection any time AFTER August 9th.
How to use Musical Prompts: Song lyrics and melodies can be a fun challenge for writers and the idea is to use the song however it inspires you; whether it be using the themes of a song for your story, or even finding a way to incorporate the actual song into your fic.
Have an idea for an additional fic, no problem, feel free to write and tag additional Summer themed stories you come up with if you want.
Today’s the day, fam: the unveiling of the 2026 MSR Bingo Challenge Card!
For a plain text version of the bingo card: MSR Bingo Challenge 2026
HOW TO PLAY
Simply pick a row, column, or diagonal line on the board and write stories for those squares.
You can write several short pieces or one longer story that combines multiple prompts.
The bingo element is meant as a fun challenge, but if you don’t want to write a fic with several prompts (or don’t have the time), no worries. Pick however many squares you’d like, in whatever combination suits your fancy!
*** I Want to Believe (Free Space): This is your chance to personalize the board! Maybe you want to include some domestic bliss in the Unremarkable House, explore an AU, or include a prompt not on the card. Do with it as you like! ***
POSTING:
Post finished fics to the AO3 Collection (please read through the Rules before posting).
Authors are encouraged to share their fics when they post to AO3 on their socials!
Fic submissions will remain open indefinitely, but to be included in the official Challenge Master Fic List post on the socials, your stories must be submitted to the AO3 collection by Sunday, 6/28.
Questions? Message me.
Happy writing!
Just a reminder that the MSR Bingo Challenge officially ends THIS SUNDAY, 6/28. You can continue to post to the AO3 collection after that date, but if you want to be included in the Challenge Master List, be sure to post by the 28th!
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